At its annual developer conference WWDC on June 10, Apple finally announced “Apple Intelligence,” a new generative AI system it has developed in-house. The new AI system offers a smarter Siri that can leverage personal context to offer a more personalized experience. It also offers a suite of tools to boost productivity and creativity, declutter emails and notifications, and record and transcribe audio on the fly.
At the heart of Apple Intelligence are generative AI models running on-device for lighter tasks and on Apple's private cloud for more complex tasks. Users can utilize Apple Intelligence in the form of writing tools in email, notes, and messages. They can also use the tools to get suggestions on how to reply to emails quickly, rewrite emails to make them sound more friendly or professional, and summarize key points. Similarly, with Image Playground users can instantly create playful images using prompts in Photos, messages and Note; delete unwanted objects in photos; and search a clip in a video using simple prompts.
Siri is set to undergo a major upgrade with Apple Intelligence. Users can expect a more natural, conversational experience with Siri, even if they mispronounce commands. Siri can now maintain conversational context, allowing seamless back-and-forth conversations. Additionally, users can now switch between voice and text commands while using it.
Siri's capabilities are further enhanced with on-screen awareness. It can now access and understand content displayed on the screen, allowing users to add a friend’s address from a text message to their contact card with a voice command.
Apple has adopted a hybrid approach with the new AI system, where all on device AI activities like asking AI to write emails, create memories in photos or transcribe phone conversations will be handled on the device. For more complex requests that require more processing power the AI system will switch to the larger cloud-based AI models running on servers powered by Apple chips.
Apple Intelligence will analyze if a request can be processed on the device. If not, it will switch to server based AI models and share only relevant data that is required to process the request, the firm claims.
Further, Apple also announced that it is partnering with OpenAI to offer ChatGPT access to iPhone, iPad and Mac users. Though users won't have to install the ChatGPT app, Siri will seek their permission before it taps into ChatGPT’s broad knowledge database to answer their queries. As a rule, ChatGPT saves users prompts, conversations and account details that include emails and IP addresses. However, Apple claims that ChatGPT’s data-use policies will only apply if users choose to connect their account.
“Privacy protections are built in for users who access ChatGPT — their IP addresses are obscured, and OpenAI won’t store requests,” Apple said in a Newsroom blog post.
“The cornerstone of the personal intelligence system is device processing. We have integrated it deep into iPhone, iPad and mac and throughout your apps so it's aware of your personal data without collecting your personal data. This is only possible through our unique integration of our hardware and software and years-long investment in building on-device silicon intelligence,” said Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple.
Apple Intelligence will roll out with iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia later this year and can be accessed for free without the need to create an account. However, to access the premium features of ChatGPT, subscribers will have to connect their accounts.
Though Apple is not new to AI, and was one of the first to launch an AI assistant called Siri in 2011, over the years it has adopted a cautious approach towards AI, given the ethical concerns with AI.
Apple’s shift in policy on AI makes sense for several reasons. First, generative AI is a significant upgrade over natural language processing (NLP) based AI assistants like Siri. Generative AI based chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini can do so much more with a lot more context and accuracy. Moreover, the massive interest in the technology has helped early movers such as Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia see unexpectedly high returns in the last few months. Microsoft surpassed Apple to become the most valuable company in the world in January 2024 and in June chipmaker Nvidia, which is the key supplier of AI chips powering GPT-4, surpassed Apple to become the second most valuable company with a market valuation of $3 trillion.
Secondly, Apple's biggest revenue generator, the iPhones, have seen a slump in demand in China. While the company has begun making inroads in emerging markets like India and Brazil with double-digit growth, its overall revenue dropped by 4% in the first three months of 2024. Tapping into generative AI might help Apple retain users and also enhance the appeal of iPhones and iPads for new buyers.
Image credit: Apple Newsroom